Critics Cry: Please Roy, 'No More'

Roy Moore still isn't conceding the Alabama special election, claiming in a recent video that he is still waiting for the votes to be verified. This announcement comes after widespread calls, on both left and right, to lose the race with dignity by conceding the election to Doug Jones.

"In this race, we have not received the final count to include military and provisional ballots," Moore said, according to CNN. "This has been a very close race and we are awaiting certification by the secretary of state."

Since losing the Senate race, Roy Moore has refused to concede the election, which will be certified no earlier than December 26 and no later than January 3. In fact, Moore has continued his campaign rhetoric in a recent video, despite being rejected by the people of Alabama, claiming that "abortion, sodomy, and materialism have taken the place of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Democratic candidate Doug Jones was declared the winner of the Alabama Senate race, making him the first Democrat in Alabama to earn a spot in the Senate since 1992. Republican candidate Roy Moore, under media scrutiny after numerous accusations came forward concerning his alleged history of sexual misconduct, lost by a small margin.

Eager to have their voice be heard, a vast number of Alabama residents drove to the polls yesterday. A total of 639,088 (50%) voted for Jones. Moore received 629,749 (49%) votes. Roughly 2% of Alabama residents voted for a write-in candidate.

Interestingly, there are two factors that probably caused Moore to lose the election. The first was the write-in candidate who, although he didn't earn very many votes, probably took enough votes away from Moore to cause him to lose. Second, due to his controversial positions on social issues, accompanied with accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, Democrats were able to "get out the vote."

In other words, Democrats really didn't want Moore, and they made sure to get out and vote. Black and women voters also overwhelmingly rejected Moore.

Republicans have called on Roy Moore to concede the race to his Democratic opponent.

According to the Washington Post, Moore's defeat in a deep-red state was seen as a major loss for President Trump and Steve Bannon.

The National Review, a magazine that has promoted movement conservatism (as opposed to Trump's right-wing populism) since the days it was founded by William Buckley, wrote an article last night titled "Steve Bannon Loses Alabama." In this article, the National Review suggests that Steve Bannon and like-minded thinkers have made it their goal to find "ridiculous candidates and convince voters they are legitimate."

The National Review thinks that last night displayed the waning influence of Donald Trump and other populist-nationalists within the Republican Party. Particularly notable, they claim, is that the Bannon-Trump wing of the party was unable to win in the state of Alabama, the state perhaps most likely to elect a candidate of this mold.

"We already knew that a party made in Bannon’s image would be repulsive," they wrote. "Tonight we learned it is not even politically viable."